Angel's Tears
by xXxangel's.two.wolvesxXx
Summary: Kato Asuka is broken beyond repair. She finds refuge in the death game under the name Angel. After the game was cleared, she lost her footing in the world and is stumbling to get back up and understand her world. Side story for Anniversary Encore. OCXOC, Kisuna, OCXOC, OCXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! Angel here! This is a side story for Ice Cream Kari and my SAO fic, Anniversary Encore. Please check it out! The link is on my profile. I felt like I needed something to cover the backstory for my OC Asuka Kato and her relationships with the people of the real world and the people in game.**

**The initial chapters are meant to be short and straight to the point because Asuka isn't comfortable with the world. Later on, the chapters will get longer and longer as the main character finds closure, opens up to others, and is able to accept the real world as it is.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own SAO. I only own Asuka Kato, Hana Fukui, Daisuke Fukui, Kouki Fukui, and Katsu Fukui. Hikari "Kari" Waterjewel belongs to Ice Cream Kari, Aiko "Ai" Hitsugaya and Kaito Shizuka belongs to animeorange94, and Lfyre belongs to Lfyre. Toshiro Hitsugaya is crossed over from Bleach on request from animeorange94 and belongs to Tite Kubo. Kari-chan and I jointly own Katashi Kurosawa and Kenshin Haruki. **

I am but a free bird in this virtual sky.

My name was Angel of the «Knights of the Blood».

After two years, I returned to being Kato Asuka.

And finally, I'm Angel of «Resurrection's Blade».

But those are just names. I'm not really anybody at all. I put up mask after mask after mask to hide my inner self. I hide it so well even I can't see it myself.

The «death game» called «Sword Art Online» was once my safe haven, even though on a daily basis for two years, I had to worry whether Mother or the others would remove my «NervGear» just to kill me. «SAO» was a place I could really laugh, really cry, and truly enjoy my life.

Despite it being a «virtual world», I felt so much more alive while in-game than in real life.

Weird, huh?

Let me tell you my story.

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own SAO. See additional disclaimers in the first chapter.**

I think the pain might have started years ago, but I'd never know.

Father died when I was little. Really little. When I was two, Mom remarried and into my life stepped Fukui Daisuke, some rich jerk, and his sons, Kouki and Katsu.

Daisuke was a billionaire jerk who forced everyone, including his wife and children, to call him "Fukui-sama". The ego logistical spawn of Satan had nothing good but that big wad of cash in his pocket.

Kouki was okay at first, but as he grew up, we got worse and worse. Mild taunts that once scattered my days became relentless bullying when he turned sixteen, six years after mom remarried.

Katsu was okay, and he still is. He hated his father and sheltered anyone within Daisuke's wrath like a mother bird with her eggs.

But who was most affected other than me? Mother. She instantly corrupted when she set eyes on

Daisuke's as is he carried a «Evil Parameter», which he obviously didn't since the real life was no «VRMMORPG».

They are the reason why I ran away to «SAO».

**Please review! From this point on, the chapters will get longer and longer.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own SAO. The longer edition of this with a lot more detail is in the first chapter.**

**Oh, by the way, quick background thing for Katashi Kurosawa. He's based off one of my friends in school, is a Imp, and was an SAO survivor. He has a really sad backstory, which will be revealed in a few chapters. He's known Asuka since they were in third grade.**

Kurosawa Katashi can sometimes be a big jerk.

Funny for me to be saying that, especially since he and I have been best friends since third grade and I've had a huge crush on him since sixth grade.

Ah, but no matter. Kurosawa Katashi is a jerk and that is that.

_Earlier That Day…_

"Hey, Asuka-chan, hurry up!" the boy on the bike in front of me yelled.

"Slow down then, Katashi-kun," I muttered, running to catch up with my best friend.

"Hey, are you okay?" Katashi asked. He knew me very well and could easily tell when something terrible happened at home.

"Mn," was my replied. I didn't feel like answering.

"Asuka-chii, you have to tell someone," he persuaded.

"Don't call me that," I replied bitterly.

"What's going on?" he asked a he hopped off his bike and leaned it against a sakura tree. I slowed to a stop under the shade the branches offered, inhaling the scent of the flowers. "You're never this frustrated at me."

"Nothing." Hiding what happens at home was my specialty.

"You can't hide it forever."

"I can if I want."

"Not when I'm involved." He smirked mischievously, causing a warning to flare up in my mind, a warning I was stupid enough to disregard.

"I'll be leaving now. I'll see you in game."

"You're going nowhere." He grabbed my elbow, causing a billion emotions, including anger, to flare up inside me.

"Katashi-kun…" I whimper, not in the mood to kick anybody or anything at the moment.

"I'm serious Asuka-chan. You haven't been this depressed for a couple of months. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Asuka-chan." Katashi pulled me toward him, in the process making me turn toward him. He pulled me into an embrace I was only familiar with in the virtual world. A bright red blush formed on my cheeks.

He brushed my black ponytail aside so he had a good look at my neck. Sure enough, he found the marks he was looking for. The dark red mark, parts of it still oozing blood, the others slowly healing.

"They did it again." It wasn't a question, nor was it a statement.

"I'm okay." A blind person would know it was a lie. Tears welled up in my eyes as I said the words.

"Why won't you tell anyone about this?"

"They won't believe me."

"You have solid evidence. You could go to court with this case."

"The wounds would heal by the time we actually go there." The Court was a busy place with constant reports of murder, robbery, and other crimes daily.

"Still…"

"I'm fine." With that, I walked away. "See you in game."

**It's still pretty short; only five hundred words this time. Please review!**

**Thank you to Kari for catching my mistake!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, my friend Kari had a really great backstory that crossed over into gods-know-how-many other stories. **

**And suddenly, the inspiration struck me. I was watching the last episode of Persona 4 the Animation when I suddenly thought: Asuka's birthplace has to be Inaba. **

**And from then on, it all went downhill. So here it is! **

**Yup, I bended a couple of rules here, but it all worked out alright. Ish.**

**Oh yeah! There's a poll on my profile! It's kinda important to my Sprigganess, so please go and vote!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or Persona 4.**

I was born in Inaba, sixteen years ago.

My father was one of the people involved with the Murders and Kidnappings in 2011, the year I was born. So was my mother. They met, fell in love, things happened, and here I am.

I had a feeling that Mother was someone else before Inaba. My suspicions were confirmed when I cornered, and um, _threatened_ one of her old friends, Hanamura Yosuke, when he came to visit. Trust me. I didn't just threaten him with words.

He told me Mother was once an idol, Kujikawa Rise, better known as Risette. She went to Inaba to escape the press and fell in love with Yosuke's best friend. Yuu, Yosuke's best friend, left after the kidnappings, a few months before I came around. She was only seventeen back then.

Mother decided to return to Tokyo after faking her own disappearance two years later, when she was only nineteen.

She made several attempts to rebuild our lives, and many were successful. Mother changed her name from Kujikawa Rise to Kato Hana. I, too, took Kato as my last name instead of what apparently was my real last name: Narukami.

Mother found another man soon enough, and only three years after our move, they got married.

I have no idea how blind she was when they got married, but slowly, she became corrupted by the wrath of the filthy rich programmer and infamous hacker, Daisuke Fukui.

Those were just some of the events that led up to today.

It was a warm, sunny late May morning in one of Tokyo's largest shopping districts. It wasn't long ago when I first threatened Yosuke into giving me my father's contact information. I used it to contact him and convinced him into meeting me in private a local café.

"Are you Kato Asuka?" a silver haired man asked.

"Er, yes," I replied. "I'm guessing your Narukami Yuu."

"Yeah," he replied, inviting himself to sit down on the chair across from mine.

"So you're my dad," I stated bluntly. I examined the man's features. Light silver hair, grayish eyes. He was tall and of medium build.

My question was where I got my black hair and brown eyes from. I always assumed that it was from my father, due to my mother's vibrant red hair, but it seems not to be.

"It seems to be that way," he replied. "And your mom is...?"

"Kato Hana. Or Kujikawa Rise as you know her."

"How is she?"

"Corrupted."

The man across the table gave me a strange look.

"She's been corrupted by Daisuke Fukui." The world knew that name and paired it with the words "devious hacker". Everyone but Mother.

"Oh." The man seemed a bit distressed by the fact. I guess there was still a part of him that saw Mother as the former idol. An awkward silence followed as I enjoyed my coffee.

"So, what should I call you?" I asked. "'Yuu-san'? Or just 'Dad'?"

"Up to you," he replied.

"'Kay then. 'Dad' it is."

"Say, Asuka-chan, do you play «VRMMORPGS»?"

"Yeah. I was in «SAO». Nowadays I just play «ALO» and «GGO»."

"Really?" His expression was a mix of curiosity and shock.

"Uh-huh. Why?"

"I play «GGO»."

"Really? What's your username?"

"Narukami. What's yours?"

"Angel."

Another awkward silence followed.

"So," I asked. "Do you want to go and see Mother?"

"Sure. Why not?" he asked. "Why do you even call her 'Mother' anyway? Why not 'Mom'?"

"She doesn't let me," I answered bluntly.

"Oh." He finished his fifth coffee and left to pay the bill before coming back to our table.

Dad and I chatted about the world as we made our way to my house.

"I'm home!" I yelled. "'Ere," I whispered, gesturing for him to put his shoes in the guest cubby.

"So...?" he asked.

I peeked around the corner to the kitchen. "Mom's in there."

"Thanks." He walked into the large kitchen as I headed upstairs, intent on not disturbing the reunion.

"Asuka! Where've you been?" Katsu, my step-brother, asked.

"Nowhere," I replied. "I'm gonna Dive now. See ya later. Don't go to the kitchen."

I dived into «ALO» and met Kuroshi and the others at Krito and Asuna's house. "So I met my Dad for the first time today," I announced.

"Really? How'd it go?" Kuroshi asked. The black haired «Imp» turned to face me as I sat down on the long couch next to him. He had the same messy hair as in real life since his avatar was copied over from «SAO»

"Well, he seems to be a nice guy. He apparently plays «GGO»."

"Really? Don't you play that?" Kari asked.

"Yeah. Most of us do. You should really get on there."

"Nah." Kari turned away to work on whatever paper she was writing for school. I turned to the holo-screen in front of the couch, where the newly created station, «MMO Daily», owned by the newspaper company, was broadcasting the four o'clock daily news update. The lady droned on and on about new servers and new features as Kirito fell asleep, spreading the «pseudo-sleeping parameter» throughout the cozy cabin. I had to blink myself awake several times to keep myself from falling asleep.

"I wonder how it's going," I thought aloud after blinking myself awake for the seventh time, about half an hour after I first logged in.

"Why don't you go check?" Asuna suggested.

"Yeah. I should. Bye then!"

"Bye!" those who weren't sleeping chorused. I logged out and the world went dark.

The dark world was replaced by a fuzzy image of the black walls of my room, covered with posters of various visual kei bands. My vision cleared up as I took off the «NervGear» and sat up in bed.

Excited to see the turnout of the meetup, I headed to the silent downstairs, tiptoeing so I wouldn't disturb the silence that either meant a bad thing or a good thing,

Optimistic me said that it hopefully was a good thing. Worried me state otherwise.

I headed to the kitchen, with a solid alibi set up: I was only there to get a glass of milk before diving into «GGO» to meet a couple of friends. It wasn't false either; I was planning on meeting a couple of friends from that game to train for the next «Bullet of Bullets».

"Asuka?" a voice called.

"Yes Mother?" I replied.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Coming." I bolted down the stairs to the kitchen, where obviously, my mother was.

The red haired thirty-two year old sighed in a way I never heard her sigh. "Asuka, I'd like you to meet your biological father. Narukami-senpai, this is your daughter."

Wait, "senpai"?! Dad was Mother's upperclassman when they were in school?!

"Er, hi?" I greeted.

"She looks nothing like you," Dad deadpanned to Mother.

"Nothing like you either," she replied. Her voice seemed a little more hostile than it usually was, which I always thought was unlikely. But there was that touch of bitter venom in her voice that made me shiver, despite the fact the comment wasn't pointed at me.

Maybe this plan didn't go as well as it should have.

"Now, Asuka. Please show our guest out the door," Mother commanded.

"He can't stay for dinner?" I asked.

"I'd prefer not." It was clear she didn't want Daisuke mixed up in this mess.

"Okay then. Come with me." I showed Dad out the door. "Hey, Dad, how about let's meet up in «GGO» sometime?"

"Sure. How about tomorrow at two?"

"Okay. I'll see you then."

**Wow, epic chapter. Please continue to support me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about me posting reviews in my own story. The reason is that animeorange94 has no access to FanFiction and I send her my manuscripts and she sends back reviews. I forgot to log out last time I posted for her, and it seems like I can't get rid of that review. So once again, sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or Kari. I should have half the rights to Kenshin, but it seems like Kari took him and I took Katashi. Kari belongs to Ice Cream Kari.**

There's another person to add to my jerk list.

Her name is Aiko Hitsugaya.

I mean, Ai's my best friend and everything, but sometimes, she is just so annoying. 

Hikari "Kari" Manami and I were walking to a local internet café after school. Kari didn't go to SAO School, like I did, instead, she attended a rather prestigious high school a few blocks away from mine. I stopped by earlier to convince her to go to the café with us, something she usually didn't do.

As we walked through the busy streets, cars passed by, some of them with drivers honking so much you'd think they were drunk, some patiently trying to get though the twice daily mess they called Tokyo Rush Hour traffic. As we turned into a smaller side street, a park came into view. Across the street from the adjourning playground was a famous internet café where a few high school students were slowly trickling in after a long day of classes.

"More cuts?" Kari asked.

"Yeah." Kari knew about how awful my family was, and she wasn't surprised that new marks were now bleeding furiously under my clothes.

My only hope was that Katashi wouldn't notice.

"Good afternoon, Asuka-chii!" a voice yelled.

"Good afternoon, Ai-chan," I replied wearily, wondering what antics the soccer star's sister could come up with today. I sat down in a comfortable seat next to the white haired girl after paying the small fee at the front desk.

"You seem depressed," she said.

"Shouldn't I be?" I asked, rolling up my sleeve an inch to reveal a deep gash before rolling it back down. She gasped. "Don't tell Katashi-kun or Aphrodite won't be seeing the daylight for a while." I meant it. «Illusionist's Curse» could kill an avatar for three days if I wanted it to.

"But Asuka-chan!"

"Don't. Katashi-kun has enough on his mind." It wasn't like my best friend had an easy life. Katashi's mother died during childbirth. His aunt and sister raised him, and his sister blames him for the death of their mother. Life isn't particularly kind to him.

"Don't tell me what?" I deeper voice asked.

"Eh? Oh, good morning Katashi-kun!" Ai cheerfully greeted him.

"'Morning," I grumble. I quickly got up from my seat and left the room, bolting up two flights of stairs to the roof, where the morning autumn air welcomed me.

I sat down at the far edge of the roof garden, surrounded by pleasant smelling but slowly wilting flowers. Tears spilled out of my eyes even though I tried to hold them back.

Just like me.

I heard the heavy metal door open again and a voice called out, "Asuka-chii!"

Katashi.

The tall boy eventually found me, crying in that corner for no good reason.

"Ai-chan told me," Katashi soothed, sitting down on the bench, gently caressing me.

"Don't worry about me anymore," I sobbed.

He ignores me. "How bad are they this time?" He rolls up one sleeve that was now slightly bloody, and examines the wound. "Oh, gosh, Asuka-chii, that's deep."

"I said, don't worry about me!"

"I have to. You're my best friend."

"You have enough to deal with already."

"One of those things to begin with was you." Katashi knew how to be sweet.

"Katashi-kun, I'm okay."

"Yep, monkeys came from Mars." His classic line could usually make me laugh at any time, but when he said it, I didn't feel the satisfying tickle of laughter.

The rest of that day was just me denying help over and over again with him ending with "whatever" because he was too lazy to fight back anymore. We headed back downstairs to the café and got ready to log into «ALO».

We spent the rest of the day in the world of the faeries, hunting whatever we could hunt. It was a fun alternative to the hell I usually lived in.

At dinnertime, the high school students among us, which was pretty much everyone except Agil, Klein, Kirito, and Asuna, logged out and promised to log back in after a quick meal to hunt again.

Since I eat dinner quickly in general because I don't like the people at the dinner table, I was done before the set time that we were to all log in, so I decided to surf the web, checking the blogs of my friends to keep up on their statuses, a thing I rarely did in real life because only Kenshin, Katashi, and I attended the same school.

The last blog I decided to check after looking at Kari and Lfyre's blogs was Aiko's, frankly since I was a bit scared of the content that was on it. I found on Ai's blog page a video of that whole encounter on the roof with the caption: "cutest couple EVER! 3".

I logged in early and sent an unsuspecting Aphrodite into oblivion for three days.

**Please review! Next chapter has some «GGO» in it!**


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